He Didn't Show His Mom. He Showed Me.
A two-and-a-half-year-old at a coffee shop picked a doll out of the toy pile and brought it over to show me. He was proud of it. Nobody had told him yet that a man might be the person you hide that from.
What Do You Actually Want Abundance Of?
Becca and I flew to California for a wedding with almost no budget for places to stay. Friends old and new opened their doors, and it got me thinking about what we actually want abundance of.
I Left Sara Bareilles a Voicemail
For 2 months I couldn’t find an honest way to reach out to Sara Bareilles. Every version turned into a pitch. Then she gave out a phone number and asked people to share their story, and the problem solved itself. So I called and shared mine.
Maybe It Isn't Anger. Maybe It's Grief.
Sara Bareilles realized she was carrying grief for her country and wrote a song about it. Stephen Colbert says anger is armor against what we actually feel. Put those together and the thing everyone calls anger starts to look like something else.
Random Acts of Ordinary
A chain of small decisions none of us were thinking twice about put a concert poster in the hands of a woman whose husband died in January.
Let's Talk About Grief
A Pearl Jam concert and a Sara Bareilles concert could not look more different. I’ve been to both and found they were doing the identical thing. That sent me down a road about how small a definition of grief most of us are working with.
The Heart-Strong Friendship
Tremayne and I are turning our friendship into a children's book. He's incarcerated in Virginia, so making it together means everything is much harder. Here's why we wouldn't do it any other way.
There's No Such Thing as Self-Published
I've been telling people I'm planning to self-publish my children's books. But the more I say that word, the more it feels like a lie.
The Ring Isn't a Signal, It's a Reminder
A foggy morning, a wedding ring, and a question I couldn't put down. What are the small things we carry, and what do they pull us back to?
The Ghost at the Cottage
We toured FDR's summer cottage, where he got polio at 39. Standing in those rooms, I couldn't stop asking whether our hardest moments take from us or make us.
What Is Suffering?
I always thought suffering was something other people did. Then a friend who spent his life in ministry asked a question that reframed forty years of my own.
Nobody Ever Wins a Fight
I watched Road House recently, and one line has stuck with me for weeks. Nobody ever wins a fight. It got me thinking about every argument I've ever won.
Grief Needs a Witness: What Rob Reider and Sad Dads Club Taught Me
I sat down with Rob Reider around a fire in the woods. He founded Sad Dads Club after he and his wife lost their daughter, Lila. What he taught me about grief has stayed with me since.
They Weren’t My Stories
My friend Jonathan lost his hearing the same season he lost his wife. He chose not to be bitter, because bitterness would mean living a life that wasn’t his.
Sharing Cake at Cocoa Cinnamon
A Haitian saying from Lynne Twist’s The Soul of Money sent me into a Durham, NC coffee shop with a question. What happens when you ask three strangers to share a snack and a conversation with you? The first Sharing Cake story.
Photos Keep Memories Alive
We visited Grandpa Bill at his assisted living community in Dallas. He’s 101 years old, a former Braniff pilot, and still full of adventure. What happened with AI and a stranger’s note brought the whole visit full circle.
The Lottery of Life
A blue lobster, a sea turtle, and a dinner in Costa Rica. What started as a moment of gratitude became a reflection on what it actually means to feel like you've won the lottery in life.
When Life Gives You Overripe Cacao Fruit
I bought a cacao fruit at a market in Costa Rica. When I opened it up, it was overripe. My first instinct was to take it back. That was fear talking. Then love stepped in and changed my perspective.
“Are You Doing Something Fun for Your Birthday?”
On the afternoon of my 49th birthday, I went to a memorial service. What followed was a room full of old friends, tears of sorrow and joy, and a reminder of what actually matters.
Pursuing a Childhood Dream in My 50th Journey Around the Sun
A birthday dinner at the Taste of Maine brought back memories of Friday night family rituals and a bookstore where I first decided I wanted to write children’s books. Over 40 years later, at 49, I’m finally chasing that dream.